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Thursday, December 14, 2006

Not attending this one by phone

A few months ago, tickets for the Boston Symphony Orchestra went up for sale for their Holiday Pops series. There are usually dates with pop/rock/fun bands mixed into the schedule. This year, it was the boys from Scarborough, my boys, my favorite band, Barenaked Ladies. There were two shows scheduled, for 1pm and 8pm today.

Tickets were sold out rather quickly for the night performance and I missed the chance at getting them. I struggled with this fact. BNL, doing a holiday concert, with full blown kickass orchestra, and me not going to be there. Sigh, such is life.

Well, folks offered me tickets for the 1pm show, and I passed. I couldn't justify going to a middle of the day show without at least my daughter with me.

So on a lark I called the box office this morning. The discussion went something like this:

Her: BSO, how may I help you? Me: Hi. Is there a snowball's chance in hades that you have any tickets available for tonight's 8pm Barenaked Ladies show with the Pops? Her: Yes. We have tickets. Me: *Crashes the car* Her: Ma'am, are you alright? Me: Absolutely. Her: How many would you like? Me: Ooooh. I'm not sure. (I was confused. I was there in traffic not knowing if Doug and Geoff would want to go. I was suddenly having an aneuyrsm from the fact that she said yes instead of laughing in my face, so I didn't have time to really think this through. I expected "NO!" with a great big peal of witchy laughter. I never expected her to have some, and then offer them to me, and ask me how many I would like). Well, two or four, if you've got four together, let me know. Her: Let's see (typing noises)... here we go. I have two second row seats for $115 each, together. I then have four seats together in the second balcony, row G. Those are $35 dollars a piece.

Well. Conundrum! Second row with Jess tonight alone, or make my entire family join me. Meaning make DOUG join me. I knew the kids would want to join me, no problem. Doug... wellllll.... He's not too keen on Barenaked Ladies. He thinks they're over rated. He doesn't think they're nearly as funny as I do. He thinks they're "okay." He's seen them twice, and that was enough. In his opinion. He doesn't get my obsession. He's tolerant of it. And I suppose that's alright in the end.

But I recalled after the show was sold out, we were discussing the fact that I didn't get tickets and he said d "well, with the BSO, I would have been interested in seeing them. Too bad you didn't get tickets."

Knowing that he said that, I knew my answer.

I got four tickets, Everest-high balcony, for less money than the two second row seats would have been. And we're all going. We are going to see my favorite band with a full kick-ass orchestra. And that's the fact Jack! I'm thrilled. I'm stoked. I'm freakin' out! I'm so excited. I can hardly contain myself!

The kids just got home, and I told them. Geoff said he can't go out on a school night, but I told him that they'll probably do a version of "Jingle Bells" wherein they will malign Batman for smelling awful and Robin will lay an egg. Now he's psyched. If you'll be at the show, you'll hear him squealing from the Balcony, I'm sure.

Anyway -- I've got to get ready. I mean, I don't know what I'm even going to WEAR tonight! It's the BSO! It's SYMPHONY FREAKIN' HALL!